My Prince Edward (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Ten years earlier, Fong entered into a sham marriage with a mainlander named Yang Shuwei through an agent to sever ties with her parents. The agent was supposed to file for divorce on her behalf but failed to do so. When Fong later checked her marriage status, she discovered the marriage certificate still showed her as legally married because the divorce was never processed. She kept this secret hidden for years until it resurfaced.

• sham marriage
• Yang Shuwei
• divorce
• legal status
• Fong past

A one-way permit is a travel document that allows mainland Chinese citizens to emigrate to foreign countries like New York City. Yang Shuwei wants Fong to help him apply for this permit so he can legally leave China. He agrees to jointly file for divorce with Fong, which would take effect immediately, but only if she assists him with the permit application first.

• one-way permit
• emigration
• Yang Shuwei
• New York
• migration scheme

Fong agrees because Edward's mother decides to stage a grand wedding banquet the following year, putting immense pressure on Fong to proceed with the marriage despite her secret. To maintain the appearance of being single and eligible, Fong has no choice but to cooperate with Yang's request for fake daily life photos that would support his immigration application and hide her true marital status from Edward's family.

• fake photos
• Yang
• wedding banquet
• Edward's mother
• pressure

During her trip to Fuzhou for the face-to-face interview, Fong meets Yang's girlfriend and discovers she is pregnant. This encounter makes Yang reconsider his migration plan, as he now has a family to think about. Witnessing this shifts Fong's own outlook on her relationship with Edward, and she returns to Hong Kong with a changed attitude, though she keeps her mobile data off during the journey to avoid distractions.

• Fuzhou
• pregnant girlfriend
• Yang
• perspective shift
• return to Hong Kong

Fong leaves after a serious quarrel triggered by a message from Yang, during which she expresses deep dissatisfaction with the wedding arrangements and Edward's mother's constant meddling. She also feels she has lost her freedom to the point that even her turtle has been released by her future mother-in-law. Edward reassures her they can still be themselves, but Fong ultimately chooses independence over the controlled life she feels trapped in, leaving early morning with a sticky note about his bad habit.

• Fong leaves
• Edward
• freedom
• independence
• sticky note
• final departure

When Fong travels to Fuzhou for the interview, she encounters Yang's girlfriend who is pregnant. This revelation deeply affects Yang, making him realize he cannot leave behind his unborn child and the mother. The pregnancy gives him a reason to stay rather than pursue his dream of emigrating to New York City, so he abandons his migration plan and agrees to file for divorce immediately instead of waiting for the one-way permit.

• pregnant girlfriend
• Yang
• migration plan
• Fuzhou
• family responsibility

The turtle represents Fong's sense of freedom and autonomy, which she feels is being slowly taken away by Edward's mother's control over their lives. When Fong discovers her turtle has been released by her future mother-in-law, she rushes to recover it and complains about losing her freedom. Edward's reassurance that they can remain as they are fails to address her deeper sense of entrapment, making the turtle a symbolic marker of her lost independence.

• turtle
• freedom
• independence
• symbolism
• Edward's mother
• control

Fong declines to hold a wedding banquet because she fears her secret sham marriage will be exposed. At the public proposal party, before she can even respond to Edward's proposal, he places the engagement ring on her finger. She agrees to get engaged but refuses to hold a banquet, knowing that a formal wedding would require documentation that could reveal she is still legally married to Yang Shuwei.

• wedding banquet
• secret
• sham marriage
• engagement
• expose secret

Edward's mother, Mrs. Yan, negotiates with the owner to buy the flat where Fong and Edward have lived for eight years. This represents her desire to maintain control over the couple's life and ensure they stay rooted in the family structure. Fong feels unsettled by this because it signals a creeping loss of independence, while Edward simply shrugs off the issue, showing the power dynamic between his mother and their relationship.

• Mrs. Yan
• flat
• Edward's mother
• independence
• control
• Golden Plaza

The long table symbolizes Fong's newfound independence and ability to make her own choices. Earlier in the film, Yang had slipped a heap of cash into her hands, and she had considered buying a long dining table but decided it would not fit in her small flat controlled by others. At the very end, after returning the money to Yang in Fuzhou and choosing her own path, she orders a long table of her own choosing, representing a life lived on her own terms.

• long table
• independence
• choice
• Fuzhou
• symbol
• new life